In Times of Darkness
by Ed the elf kid
Summary: Many years have passed since the Second War. The Wizarding World is disjoined and Hogwarts is forgotten. However, a descendant of Harry Potter stumbles upon the school. Will he be able to bring the wizarding world together and lift the curse that plagued
1. Default Chapter

A/N: this takes place many years after the Second War and everything that happens in the Harry Potter books. The Wizarding World has become very small and disjointed (at least in England) and Hogwarts was dismissed after a rather terrible thing had happened. Now many wizards have been forced to live as muggles without ever knowing their true potential or the wizarding world.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything you recognize. I do own most of the characters you don't recognize.  
  
Chapter 1: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry  
  
It was a sunny spring day. The brilliant blue sky was peppered with white clouds. The birch and aspen trees whispered softly in the cool breeze that made the growing heat of the day bearable if not pleasant.  
Merwin Potter climbed the old ruins of a castle, with sun reflecting off his sunglasses and his jet-black hair. His best friend Sunny Longbottom and his sister Agatha were having a bit of trouble conquering the ancient rocks. An old sign hung off the entrance that was overgrown with vines and weeds.  
  
DANGER! LOOSE ROCKS MAY CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY! DO NOT PROCEED!  
  
Merwin didn't pay much attention to the sign since he was never one to listen to warnings. "It's a marvel this survived at all, isn't it, Sunny?" he beamed down at his friends. "Yes, it sure is. I wonder who it belonged to previously." Merwin shrugged. "Probably a knight of some sort. Come on, lets go through here." He pointed at the entrance and ran in, followed closely by Sunny and Agatha. Merwin felt like to stepped under the canopy of an forest. Everywhere, the walls were creeping with vines and several bushes grew high enough for the children to begin feeling lost. However, what stunned them most was that although the trees and the bushes seemed to be dead for ages, they appeared intact. Cobwebs nestled between dry, dark branches, and Merwin felt Agatha shiver beside him. "I don't like this place, Merwin. Why did we come here again?" "Because we have nothing better to do, and anyway, lets go exploring!" he concluded in a falsely cheerful tone, continuing under the archway of dead branches. The air had a stale aroma to it, and not a sound could be heard save for an occasional snap of a twig as they proceeded to the farther wall of the hall. It was getting dark, even outside, but not the misty, watery darkness that precedes the night. It was the rapidly falling darkness that can only mean one thing. "Thunderstorm," Sunny groaned. "Well, I am not going back home with lightning ready to strike me. We have to wait here. Agatha's probably afraid of thunder anyway." 'I am not, Sunny, and you know it as well as I do!" Merwin grinned. Sunny was always ready to admit he was the bravest person in the world. but he wasn't always able to prove it. Especially when it came to thunderstorms and insects. "Alright, well, we cant stay here, we'll get soaked. Lets find some place with a roof over it," Merwin ran across the hall to an opening in the wall he noticed earlier. It lead into a dark corridor that was still dotted with spots of light coming from the outside through the holes in the wall. They ran down, hearing the thunder rumble closer to them, to a door at the end. "Pull it!" Agatha advised and Merwin obliged. The door opened easily, and Merwin once again wondered how this place ever survived through all the environmental catastrophes and normal course of time. And also why there were no tourist station nearby - why, if he were a tour guide he would advertise a medieval castle with all his might - the last castle left in England anyway. They entered a dark and dusty room that was, however, quite dry. Merwin noted bits of bone scattered around - probably a wild animal dined here or found shelter during the rain. I hope whatever it was, it doesn't come back, he thought. Agatha already sat down on the floor, and searched her pockets for a flashlight. She finally retrieved it - a tiny, laser-beamed, solar-powered box with the ray of light that shone for miles. She set it on "diffused" and placed it on the floor, immediately seeing the difference. Now the room looked as if it was dusky - not darker. Sunny sighed and sat down as well, taking off his cap. Merwin, however, noted something on the wall he was leaning on, and squinted. "Hey, Agatha, can I get the light for a second?" he asked, and the lit a series of letters that seemed to be etched into the stone. "There's..there's something written on here." he said, motioning them to come closer. Agatha walked to his right while Sunny stood at his left, resting his arm on a protruding rock. Merwin wiped away the dust and read, letter by letter, old English. "Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry" "What is that supposed to mean?" asked Agatha. Merwin shrugged, and sunny leaned forward to study it with them, pressing down on the rock he was supported by.  
  
The letters sank back and instead an opening formed, with cold wind blowing through it at many miles per hour, knocking them backwards. Merwin fell, knocked his head on the stone floor of the room, and darkness surrounded him. 


	2. Shadows

A/N: Hey all! A "Thank you so much" to all who reviewed my story. You have no idea how much reviews mean to me.. But then if you are a fanfic writer you probably do - they mean the world! I'll answer a couple of questions first and then you'll read the chapter. To lovelyinsanity - yah, I will try to paragraph this, but my upload feature has been giving me a headache! To JnY - this takes place approximately 100 years after the Second War, which is very far into the future, I know, but don't anticipate anything to be gone just because its from times long past.  
  
Once again, thanks for reviewing.  
  
Disclaimer: (I have to go through this again don't I). I don't own anything related to Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. I own my laptop and my imagination though, thank you very much.  
  
Alright, on with it.  
  
Chapter 2 - Shadows  
  
When Merwin awoke, everything around him was shrouded in shadows. His head ached where it hit the floor, and he sat up, straining to see. He could make out vague shapes of two people next to him, but hardly more.  
  
"Sunny! Agatha!" he shook their shoulders. Sunny replied with almost knocking him over as he spun around and got up.  
  
"What happened?" he asked, his voice trembling.  
  
"Hey, hey, Sunny, relax. We all probably just fell down and were knocked out until nightfall. I think we are still back in the room."  
  
Sunny reached out into the darkness.  
  
"I.I don't think so." he said, his voice trembling. He made a step into the darkness. "This seems like a completely different place altogether! Its much larger, I daresay." Sunny sank to his knees, and turned to continue Merwin's attempts to wake Agatha up.  
  
Merwin looked around and felt the floor around them, hoping he would find their flashlight. He did, and clicked on the switch, however, no beam of light shot out. Merwin shivered. He felt cold creeping up his spine into his heart. The shadows around seemed to swirl, like a dark mist.  
  
....we welcome you Potter...  
  
"What was that?" Merwin spun around, hitting Sunny.  
  
"Hey, what did you do that for?"  
  
"I heard a voice.. Several voices actually. Echoing." Merwin looked around frantically, but only shadows greeted him.  
  
....the shadows creep into your heart and from this place you'll never part...  
  
"There it is again!" Merwin grabbed Sunny's shoulder.  
  
"I don't hear anything." The other boy said. He looked visibly annoyed. "Look, Merwin, this is no time to be fooling around, alright?"  
  
"I am not fooling around! I could've sworn I heard something!"  
  
"Just forget it, okay?" Sunny was obviously frightened and was trying to hide it behind a false façade of anger and bravery.  
  
"I. I suppose." Merwin sat down.  
  
Am I going crazy, he thought, hearing voices in my head is definitely not a sign of sanity. But those voices. so real. so eerie.  
  
"You'd be of better use if you tried to help me get her on her feet!" Sunny was propping Agatha into a sitting position, for she was still unconscious. Merwin attempted to help him, to get up, to do anything, but a strange chill enveloped his whole being.  
  
"Sunny. I cant. cant get up.."  
  
...the spirits whisper in your mind now leave your sanity behind....  
  
"Sunny! Help me!" Merwin was panicking as he felt he was being carried on the cold waters of a dark river..  
  
...cold so cold, cant see the bottom, the green water in your eyes makes a worthy sacrifice. ...  
  
"Sunny!" he screamed out as the shadows closed in on him. 


End file.
